A jury of our peers discussed, debated, disagreed, and finally declared LJ’s annual Top Ten Best Books of the year, selected by our editors, as well as Top Five lists for genre fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and SELF-e titles. VISIT THE WEBSITE

Steven Spielberg’s anticipated biopic Lincoln finally has a releases date. Although the film apparently has been in the can awhile, with the November election looming, Spielberg didn’t want the film to be seen as political, so shelved it for a more suitable time (when you’re Spielberg you can do that). Entertainment Weekly has snagged this remarkable photo of star Daniel Day-Lewis as the spitting image of the 16th president (he looks just like the penny). The film chronicling the last four months of the subject’s life will hit screens November 16.

Here’s the pic:

The film no doubt will be used by educators to spur interest among students on Lincoln’s life, so be sure to have books available. Once again, my friend Esther over at Macmillan sent me notice of this cool video for Bill O’Reilly’s Lincoln’s Last Days forthcoming on audio. It’s a YA title, so appropriate for schools. The book is a special adaptation for children of O’Reilly’s bestselling Killing Lincoln. Here’s the video:

The book is narrated by O’Reilly and actor Edward Herrmann, who could read the phone book aloud and it would be mesmerizing. He’s wonderful. Thanks, Esther!

The Dark Knight in Black & WhiteFor those many who just can’t get enough of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy note that OPUS, a new operation started by Applause books founder Glenn Young, is launching with its first title, The Dark Knight Trilogy: The Complete Screenplays.

The 592-page paperback includes the shooting scripts for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises (which still is top dog at the box office—more on this below) plus selected storyboards from the trilogy.

Starting August 15, the print book (ISBN 9781623160012) will set you back $35, which isn’t bad for three illustrated scripts, and is available as an ebook fromKindle, Nook, Google, Sony, Apple, Baker & Taylor, and Ingram..

Martian Graffiti
The remarkable photos of the red planet’s surface sent back by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity have proven perfect fodder for Photoshop graffiti artists, who have produced a bunch of fun pix making the rounds on the Internet. Here are a few homebrewed attempts you might like:

Silly, but what the hell, it’s Friday.

Bourne AgainThe Dark Knight blew away its competition last weekend to maintain its box-office stranglehold, easily fending off the Total Recall remake and Wimpy Kid III. It’s Bats against Bourne this weekend, as The Bourne Legacy opens today. Critics, however, have dubbed it a snoozefest, and without anchor Matt Damon, even series’ fans may pass, although Jeremy Renner and the rest of the cast including Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, and Albert Finney are rock solid. The Will Ferrell/Zack Galafianakis political comedy, The Campaign, garnered positive reviews, so let’s see if that pushes Bats out of the top slot.

Bruce Juice!The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week starts August 12. While numerous viewers tune in for the annual programming (mostly to see if there’s any cool footage of people being chomped—let’s be honest), it’s especially sweet this year because JAWS hits Blu-ray on Tuesday, baby! (I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence). I had a nerdgasm over the JAWS Blu-ray restoration a few months ago and the wait soon will be over.

I held off preordering on Amazon in hope that one of the big retailers would have a package including an exclusive. It’s looking like Best Buy is offering a package including the two-disc set with a book, so I’ll be heading there Tuesday for a copy.